Symmetric telepresence using robotic humanoid surrogates

    Authors

    A. Nagendran; A. Steed; B. Kelly;Y. Pan

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Comput. Animat. Virtual Worlds

    Keywords

    3D telepresence; telepresence robots; symmetric telepresence; robotic; surrogates; remote robot control; Computer Science, Software Engineering

    Abstract

    Telepresence involves the use of virtual reality technology to facilitate apparent physical participation in distant events, including potentially performing tasks, while creating a sense of being in that location. Traditionally, such systems are asymmetric in nature where only one side (participant) is teleported to the remote location. In this manuscript, the authors explore the possibility of symmetric three-dimensional telepresence where both sides (participants) are teleported simultaneously to each other's location; the overarching concept of symmetric telepresence in virtual environments is extended to telepresence robots in physical environments. Two identical physical humanoid robots located in UK and the USA serve as surrogates while performing a transcontinental shared collaborative task. The actions of these surrogate robots are driven by capturing the intent of the participants controlling them in either location. Participants could communicate verbally but could not see the other person or the remote location while performing the task. The effectiveness of gesturing along with other observations during this preliminary experiment is presented. Results reveal that the symmetric robotic telepresence allowed participants to use and understand gestures in cases where they would otherwise have to describe their actions verbally. Copyright (c) 2015John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

    Journal Title

    Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds

    Volume

    26

    Issue/Number

    3-4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    271

    Last Page

    280

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000354264700009

    ISSN

    1546-4261

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